P-Selectin Is Critical for De Novo Pulmonary Arterial Thrombosis Following Blunt Thoracic Trauma

Thromboembolic events within the pulmonary arterial vasculature are a troublesome complication of severe blunt thoracic trauma. Mechanisms underlying these events are currently in question as pulmonary thromboembolic events in this particular trauma population tend to be diagnosed more rapidly, more frequently and without an associated systemic thrombosis. This study investigates the role of P-selectin in thrombus formation through the use of in vivo blocking antibodies. We hypothesize that P-selectin plays a pivotal role in de novo pulmonary arterial thrombosis following blunt thoracic trauma.

A murine weight-drop model of lateral blunt thoracic trauma was used. Wild-type mice in the experimental group were given blocking antibodies against P-selectin prior to the trauma. All mice were euthanized at 24 hours for evaluation with hematoxylin-eosin staining or immunofluorescent staining for fibrin and P-selectin.

Injured mice that did not receive the P-selectin antibody showed a robust fourfold to fivefold increase in fibrin accumulation in both coup and contrecoup tissues (fluorescence per um of arterial wall) compared to uninjured sham mice. In contrast, mice pretreated with P-selectin blocking antibody showed no significant increase in fibrin accumulation on either side of the lungs after blunt thoracic trauma. No difference in mean fibrin deposition was found between sham controls that received the P-selectin-blocking antibody and those that received an isotype control antibody.

P-selectin expression increases at the pulmonary arterial luminal surface following blunt thoracic trauma. In addition, P-selectin-blocking in vivo prevents pulmonary arterial fibrin accumulation after blunt thoracic trauma, confirming that P-selectin is necessary for de novo pulmonary arterial thrombosis after traumatic injury.